Janet MacLachlan

For the Canadian basketball player, see Janet McLachlan.

Janet MacLachlan
Publicity photo of Janet McLachlan, taken in the late 1960s
Born	Janet Angel MacLachlan (1933-08-27)August 27, 1933 Harlem, New York City, U.S.
Died	October 11, 2010(2010-10-11) (aged 77) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1965–2010
Children	1

Janet Angel MacLachlan (August 27, 1933 – October 11, 2010) was an American actress who had roles in such television series as The Rockford Files, Alias and The Golden Girls. She is best remembered for her key supporting part in the film Sounder (1972) where she was billed as Myrl Sharkey (credited as Merle Sharkey) as Teacher. MacLachlan worked with numerous well-known actors and actresses and celebrities such as Bill Cosby, Jim Brown, James Earl Jones, Maya Angelou and Morgan Freeman.

Life and career

MacLachlan was born in Harlem, New York City; her mother, Iris South MacLachlan, and father, James MacLachlan, were both Jamaican-born members of the Church of the Illumination. Attending P.S. 170 and Julia Ward Junior High School, MacLachlan graduated from Julia Richmond High School in 1950. She received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Hunter College in 1955. She then worked as an executive secretary in New York City before turning to acting. She later performed at the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis.

A one-time contract player for Universal Studios, MacLachlan made her debut in two episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1965. She appeared in episodes of The Fugitive, The Invaders episode "The Vise" as Mrs Baxter (1968), The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., Star Trek, Ironside, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Mod Squad. She also appeared in the films Uptight (1968), Change of Mind (1969), ...tick...tick...tick... (1970), Darker Than Amber (1970), Halls of Anger (1970), Sounder (1972), The Man (1972), Tightrope (1984), Murphy's Law (1986), The Boy Who Could Fly (1986) and The Thirteenth Floor (1999).

MacLachlan also won a Los Angeles-area Emmy for her performance in KCET's Voices of Our People: In Celebration of Black Poetry in 1981. She would later serve as grant committee chairman for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Death

Suffering from cardiovascular disease in her later years, MacLachlan died from complications from the condition on October 11, 2010 at the age of 77 at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Los Angeles. MacLachlan resided in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Star Trek	Lieutenant Charlene Masters
1968	Uptight	Jeannie
1969	Change of Mind	Elizabeth Dickson
1970	...tick...tick...tick...	Mary Price
1970	Halls of Anger	Lorraine Nash
1970	Darker Than Amber	Noreen
1972	The Man	Wanda
1972	Mary Tyler Moore Show	Sherry Wilson
1972	Sounder	Camille Johnson
1973	Maurie	Dorothy
1978	Good Times	Sandra Forbes	Episode: "Florida Gets a Job"
1978	Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry	Mary Logan
1984	Tightrope	Dr. Yarlofsky
1986	Murphy's Law	Dr. Lovell
1986	The Boy Who Could Fly	Mrs. D'Gregario
1987	Big Shots	Welfare Worker
1988	For Keeps	Miss Giles
1993	Heart and Souls	Agnes Miller
1994	There Goes My Baby	Lottie
1994	Criminal Passion	Tracy's Lawyer
1996	The Big Squeeze	Bank Manager
1996	Pinocchio's Revenge	Judge Allen
1999	The Thirteenth Floor	Ellen

External links

• Janet MacLachlan at IMDb
• Janet MacLachlan at the Internet Broadway Database
• Janet MacLachlan at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Janet MacLachlan at Find a Grave
• Janet MacLachlan at Memory Alpha